In no particular order, here are the best books I read in 2017:
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
As someone who delights in solitude, is prone to deep introversion, and values self-reliance, this true story fascinated me. In 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight disappeared into the Maine woods without telling a soul and lived alone for twenty-seven years, surviving off a combination of ingenuity and thievery. Although his camp was a mere three minute walk from the nearest cabin, he didn’t have a single conversation with another human in all those years. How did he do it? You’ll have to read the book. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire way.
Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari
If you forced me to pick my favorite book of the year, this would be it. When I finished reading it in January, I instantly suspected it would be. It’s that good. Employing a journalistic approach, Hari examines the history and impact of the war on drugs through the stories of numerous drug war participants—warriors, users, dealers, addicts, counselors, etc. He weaves their lives together masterfully while also seamlessly incorporating just the right amount of scientific data, statistics, and public policy analysis. Ultimately, the book confirms much of what my own (limited) personal research has discovered: The war on drugs isn’t what most of us think it is. Nor is drug use or drug addiction. Heck, drug users aren’t even who most of us think they are. Consequently, the drug war doesn’t accomplish what we all want it to. In fact, it actually makes things worse. If you support the war on drugs, please, please, please read this book.
Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart
This was my first DBH book and it didn’t disappoint. He can really write—and reason. It’s a refutation of the “distorted religious ‘histories’ offered up” by atheists like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris. Not only does Hart provide a substantive rebuttal, he also gives them a taste of their own vitriol. A few tasty examples:
"As I have already complained, the tribe of the New Atheists is something of a disappointment. It probably says more than it is comfortable to know about the relative vapidity of our culture that we have lost the capacity to produce profound unbelief. The best we can now hope for are arguments pursued at only the most vulgar of intellectual levels, couched in an infantile and carpingly pompous tone, and lacking all but the meagerest traces of historical erudition or syllogistic rigor: Richard Dawkins triumphantly adducing 'philosophical' arguments that a college freshman midway through his first logic course could dismantle in a trice, Daniel Dennett insulting the intelligence of his readers with proposals for the invention of a silly pseudo-science of 'religion,' Sam Harris shrieking and holding his breath and flinging his toys about in the expectation that the adults in the room will be cowed, Christopher Hitchens bellowing at the drapes and potted plants while hoping no one notices the failure of any of his assertions to coalesce with any other into anything like a coherent argument. One cannot begrudge these men the popularity of their screeds, obviously; sensationalism sells better than sense."
"I can honestly say that there are many forms of atheism that I find far more admirable than many forms of Christianity or of religion in general. But atheism that consists entirely in vacuous arguments afloat on oceans of historical ignorance, made turbulent by storms of strident self-righteousness, is as contemptible as any other form of dreary fundamentalism."
"The rather petulant subtitle that Christopher Hitchens has given his (rather petulantly titled) God Is Not Great is How Religion Poisons Everything. Naturally one would not expect him to have squandered any greater labor of thought on the dust jacket of his book than on the disturbingly bewildered text that careens so drunkenly across its pages—reeling up against a missed logical connection here, steadying itself against a historical error there, stumbling everywhere over all those damned conceptual confusions littering the carpet—but one does still have to wonder how he expects any reflective reader to interpret such a phrase. Does he really mean precisely everything? Would that apply, then—confining ourselves just to things Christian—to ancient and medieval hospitals, leper asylums, orphanages, almshouses, and hostels? To the golden rule, 'Love thine enemies,' 'Judge not lest ye be judged,' prophetic admonitions against oppressing the poor, and commands to feed and clothe and comfort those in need? "
If you think Christianity has had an overall negative impact on human wellbeing, you should read this book. The truth is the precise opposite.
The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Volumes 1 and 2 by Gregory A. Boyd
When your favorite living author publishes his magnum opus, you read it and you love it, even when it’s 1500 pages. Boyd’s book argues that we should interpret the Old Testament’s portrayals of God through the lens of Jesus, who is the supreme revelation of God. When we do so, we are forced to conclude that the Old Testament writers, working with relatively little knowledge of God and deeply influenced by their cultural assumptions, erred in attributing violence to him. But that doesn’t mean such passages weren’t divinely inspired. It simply means their divinely inspired meaning is something other than their surface-level, literal meaning. In fact, Boyd claims it is only by concluding that such depictions are inaccurate that we can truly see how they bear witness to Jesus’ death on the cross. This book really clarified my thinking and helped me bolster many of the arguments I made in my own. If Boyd's book intrigues you but its length is too daunting, he published a lighter version (292 pages) called Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence, which I have not read.
Staying with the biblical interpretation theme, I really enjoyed Rob Bell’s latest book. He’s a fantastic storyteller and his passion for God beams from every page. For me, this book shed new light on the depth, multi-dimensionality, and awe-inspiring beauty of Scripture. If your view of Scripture leans towards strict literalism/inerrancy, read this book. The Bible is so much more—and so much more magnificent.
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
This book proves that a business adventure can be as thrilling as any type of adventure. Nike’s mysterious founder shares the inside story of his journey from shoestring startup (pun intended) to multinational powerhouse. It’s a real rollercoaster ride, one that entertains and inspires. Plus, it has a rare five star rating on Amazon with over 2,200 customer reviews. Check it out. The entrepreneur inside you will thank you.
Ali: A Life by Jonathan Eig
In my opinion, most biographies make at least one of two near-fatal errors: (1) They get the pacing wrong by either dwelling too much or too little on certain events or periods in their subject’s life or (2) they get the general level of detail wrong by including way too many uninteresting and irrelevant details or way too few interesting and relevant ones. This biography does neither. Its pacing and detail are nearly perfect. Plus, Eig does a masterful job of balancing his exploration of Ali the man and Ali the fighter. I learned much about both, and the period in which he fought. Love him or hate him (there are reasons to do both), Ali lived life full throttle, and in the hands of a writer like Eig, that makes for a fascinating biography.
Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church by John C. Nugent
This book addresses a crucial question about the church’s role in society and history: Should it focus (not exclusively but primarily) on fixing the world (i.e. on making it a more safe and comfortable place) or instead on being a community that embodies God’s future kingdom as a foretaste of (and a sign pointing to) it? In other words how are we to advance God’s kingdom—by politically imposing it on others or by exemplifying it to them? Those are two very different ways of being in the world. Professor Nugent makes the case for the latter. As the Amazon description puts it, “It’s not our job to make this world a better place, but to be the better place God has already made in this world.” Nugent’s approach reminds me of this gem from a sermon preached by Bill Tibert:
"Changes in the law, blocking abortion clinics, demeaning name-calling will not stop abortions. The history of the church through the ages has been the history of changes brought about in society through the church demonstrating and living an alternative vision of life. We need to stop telling our nonbelieving neighbors how wrong their way of life is, and we need to start showing the power of the gospel in the way we live.... Let me ask you: Which has greater power? Ten thousand people who fill the streets in front of abortion clinics and shame those seeking abortions, or ten thousand people in California who take to the state capital a petition they have signed stating they will take any unwanted child of any age, any color, any physical condition so that they can love that child in the name of Jesus Christ?"
Christians on both sides of the political aisle should read this book. Stat.
Honorable Mentions
- Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God by Brian Zahnd
- Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics to Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb by Keith Giles
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson